The first-ever Paralympic Games in France has opened in the capital of Paris, with a stunning Opening Ceremony taking place outdoors for the first time in history. About 4,400 athletes from around the world will compete across 22 sports, sharing the excitement of Para sport with spectators for the first time in eight years.
Athletes from a record 168 delegations paraded in the iconic Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysees, in front of thousands of fans who cheered, clapped and waved flags when the athletes took to the stage. Athletes danced, waved at the crowd and posed for photos as they made a lap around the most beautiful public square in the world.
Fans and athletes became one when the French delegation entered the Place de la Concorde to the music of “Champs-Elysees”. Led by flagbearers Nantenin Keita and Alexis Hanquinquant, French athletes embraced the love from the spectators, who turned on their phone torches to support the hosts.
Big party in Paris
Indonesia’s Para powerlifter Nengah Widiasih was decked out in a ceremonial crown and excited to enter the ceremony.
“I want to see an amazing ceremony tonight. It’s my first time going to a ceremony. It’s my first experience. Fourth Paralympics but I never went to the opening, usually my competition is the next day.”
Indonesia’s Nengah Widiasih is excited for her first Opening Ceremony
Another athlete with high hopes for the ceremony was South Africa’s flagbearer, Mpumelelo Mhlongo. “I just expect that there’s going to be a massive crowd out there welcoming the Paralympians from around the world, and a lot of countries creating a good vibe just to show France how grateful we are that they are hosting us and they’ve created such an amazing event for us to showcase our talent,” said Mhlongo, who will compete in Para athletics.
In the first minutes of the Opening Ceremony, French Paralympic hero Theo Curin drove a Phryge taxi – a red car decorated with hundreds of the Paralympic mascot. The Paralympic swimmer, who competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, took French athletes on a ride, while speaking about what it is like to compete at a home Games.
Theo Curin drove the Phryge taxi into the Opening Ceremony @Getty Images
As the countdown ended, the Paralympic swimmer yelled “Welcome to Paris” as fireworks exploded, lighting up the sky in red, white and blue, the colours of the French flag. Eyes kept being drawn upwards, as the Patrouille acrobatique de France also performed a flyby, releasing smoke matching the French flag.
The Ceremony featured music and dance routines, setting the stage for 11 days of exciting Paralympic competition. It included a grand choreographed show, in which many dancers used crutches to showcase the theme of overcoming physical differences, creating a new, inclusive competition where unity and equality succeed.
In the final performance of the evening, Christine and the Queens took to the stage, singing to a display by dancers in wheelchairs. They were spinning on the floor, a performance inspired by and paying tribute to Sue Austin, a British artist with a disability, who used the wheels of her wheelchair to paint.
Christine and the Queens performs at the Opening Ceremony © Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Ready, set…
There will be around 4,400 athletes from a record 168 delegations, including the largest ever Refugee Paralympic Team. Three National Paralympic Committees – Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo – will make their Paralympic debut in the French capital. There will be a record number of female athletes.
The sun sets over the Parade of Nations and the Arc de Triomphe © Julien de Rosa – Pool/Getty Images
Athletes were welcomed by thousands of spectators – and 15 Phryge mascots that danced, jumped around, and even read newspapers on the stage. With a beautiful sunset and the Eiffel Tower also in the background, athletes celebrated the opening of the Games.
“I’m very excited. It’s my first time. Can’t wait. I watched the Olympic Ceremony and it was so cool. There is so much to do and everything is so amazing, I’m so happy to be here,” said Finland’s Lida Lounela, who will make her Paralympic debut in Paris.
There was a huge roar from crowd when the Refugee Paralympic Team entered the Place de la Concord. Led by flagbearer Guillaume Junior Atangana, the RPT will feature eight athletes who will compete across six sports – Para athletics, Para powerlifting, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo, Para triathlon and wheelchair fencing.
With a DJ playing electronic music, the Place de la Concorde turned into a dance floor or what even seemed like a big fashion show. Athletes from many countries, including Indonesia, Ghana, and the Solomon Islands, wore traditional costumes to showcase their cultures.
Henry Kwaku Nyanteh Lorbi, Ghana’s chef de mission, explained the idea behind having a traditional costume at the Opening Ceremony.
Flagbearers Tahiru Haruna and Zinabu Issah lead Ghana into the Opening Ceremony © Elsa/Getty Images
“Our uniform is traditional, hand woven, we have different colours and different designs expressing a story. Every one you see is a different fabric which has a different story, showing we’re using our individual differences and bringing them together.”
Tahiru Haruna, who will represent Ghana in Para powerlifting, said, “I want to see the flags of all the world, Africa, Asia, I want to see everyone smiling. This unites everybody together. That’s sports. That’s why it’s called Paralympic – we move together, we love ourselves.”
A family affair
South Africa’s Mhlongo said, “I think it’s everything (to have a crowd). We know from covid that our sport is nothing without having a community so without the crowd we also don’t exist. You don’t get the performances out of the athletes. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
“Lucky number three. I’ve always been in mixed classed events, so always had the Paralympic record and world record but always ended up 5th, so this is the first year we have our own 100m in our class so just looking to showcase the T44 class and how much talent we have there.”
It was also a family moment for Mhlongo. His wife Monique Atouguia , who was wearing the colours of the South African flag, cheered as she watched her husband carry the flag at his third Paralympics, with her brother and her mother. Her husband’s family will be arriving tomorrow to complete the family celebrations.
“I’m so excited, so emotional. This is his third Paralympics and he’s retiring, so it’s a big deal. It’s a big one (with him carrying the flag), and of course it’s beautiful to have a moment to celebrate the athletes without them having even competed, that’s amazing,” Monique Atouguia told the IPC at the Opening Ceremony.
“It’s unity, it’s diversity, it’s the power of what we can achieve together. All of that, it’s a night to celebrate,” she said.
The inclusion revolution starts here
The Opening Ceremony, directed by Thomas Jolly, put disability and the joy of life at centre stage. A black and white film after the Parade of Nations followed individuals on their journeys of reflection, from the initial difficulties of accepting differences to finding confidence. As people opened up about their feelings, the crowd reacted and clapped.
Fireworks light up the sky over Place de la Concorde © AP Photo/Thibault Camus
“Here at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, we will celebrate what makes us different, show there is strength in difference, beauty in difference, and that difference serves as a powerful force for good,” International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said in his speech.
“The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will show what persons with disabilities can achieve at the highest level when the barriers to succeed are removed.
“The fact these opportunities largely exist only in sport in the year 2024 is shocking. It is proof we can and must do more to advance disability inclusion – whether on the field of play, in the classroom, concert hall or in the boardroom.
“That is why 225 years on from when Place de la Concorde was central to the French Revolution, I hope Paris 2024 starts a Paralympic revolution, the inclusion revolution.”
The cauldron is lit
The Opening Ceremony came to a close with the lighting of the cauldron by five final torchbearers, French Paralympians Alexis Hanquiquant, Nantenin Keita, Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Fabien Lamirault and Elodie Lorandi.
The five final torchbearers light the cauldron in Jardin de Touliers © David Ramos/Getty Images
Made to look like a hot air balloon, the cauldron then rose into the sky above the City of Light for a dazzling finale.
